To us old-timers, a 300-pound bench press used to be a huge deal. At least, it was at my high school in Arizona, way back in the 1980s.

Remember those days?

Back then, the 300-pound bench pressers were the guys you didn't mess with — usually because most of them needed considerable girth to push that much weight in the first place.

Today, a 300-pound bench from a high school kid isn't even noteworthy — unless the kid weighs about 140 pounds.

If you don't believe me, all you have to do is take a peek some of the top qualifiers for this year's boys state powerlifting meet which takes place in Abilene next week.

In today's vernacular, 400 is the new 300 — thanks in large part to the growth of powerlifting as a competitive sport at the high school level.

In the old days, the strong guys were the ones who showed up in the weight room on their own initiative. Today, it's a competitive situation for many of them, so incentive isn't a problem — nor are the poundages that we used to consider significant.

The 300-pound barrier, which many of us tried in vain to crash through so long ago, is now being achieved at the 123-pound weight class.

No, I'm not kidding.

Kenny Nguyen, a 129-pounder from Dickinson, benched 360 this year — more than twice his own weight. Jamie Czajkowski of Rockdale, benched 405 at a body weight of 187.

Granted, I've lifted 405 pounds before — but I did it one Big Mac at a time over the course of 30 years.

Actually, the most I ever benched was about 270 at long-since gone body weight of around 205 — a feat that I was so proud of, that I was instantly inspired to jump in front of a mirror and flex.

Yeah ... I was bad to the bone.

So bad was I, that my personal best was 50 pounds under the current girls state record of 320 pounds.

So bad was I, that I was only 400 pounds behind the new Texas state record of 670 pounds, set last week by Pilot Point's, Matt Poursoltani in a regional meet.

It is rumored that Poursoltani might be able to bench as much as 700 when he competes here in Abilene. And after viewing the video of his 670-pound record on the Internet (www.facebook.com/PilotPointPostSignal) I'm thinking he'll get it.

The amazement doesn't stop there.

In fact, there will be at least three competitors at the state meet this year who are fully capable of benching 500 pounds or more.

Thirty years ago, that would have been pure fiction at the high-school level, and not just because competitive prep powerlifting didn't exist on this scale.

The fact is, kids as a whole are getting stronger — much stronger.

"The strength and conditioning community has become extensive and well-researched," said Hawley assistant powerlifting coach Cort Arthur, who along with head coach Kevin Stoker, has helped build one of the top small-school powerlifting programs in the state. "There are a ton of really smart strength coaches these days — even at the high-school level, writing blogs and putting stuff out on YouTube. ... Honestly, one of the biggest (improvements) in the sport is how much free, readily available information there is out there."

That information not only includes tips on lifting technique, but on training routines, nutrition and recovery time — all viewable with the click of a mouse. The net result has blown the roof of what we used to consider as "strong."

"Three years ago, our best squats were in the 500s," Arthur said. "Now, it's expected for our kids to hit 500, mid-500 or closer to 600.

"It's expected for all of our girls to be well over 300 pounds on the squat. In fact, once they weigh over 120 pounds, we want them squatting in the 300 range.

To an old man, it's surprising that any 120-pound girl could squat 300 pounds as easily as I could hoist a Pop Tart. But that's the direction we're going, and there's no end in sight to the potential improvement.